Food & Drink

This beef, leek, and crispy potato pizza is a cheesy slice of Irish heaven complete with a Guinness infused crust

IRELAND IS not a country especially synonymous with pizza.

However, a few bites of this Irish-inspired cheesy, dough-based creation could change that.

Blending a selection of unmistakably Irish ingredients with the most established of Italian culinary classics, the results really have to be tasted to be believed.

Maybe it's the beef, or the leek or even the crispy potato. Perhaps it's the Irish cheddar or Guinness infused dough.

Whatever the answer might be, one thing is certain: this is one pizza recipe you'll be passing on to friends for years to come.

Coming courtesy of Lea & Jay, here's everything you need to know.

What you will need:

For the dough:

1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, 1 cup semolina flour and 1/2 cup durum flour
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon instant yeast
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 – 1 1/4 cups warm (37°C) Guinness

For the Pizza Toppings:

1 – 1 1/2 cups leftover corned beef, shredded or cut into smaller pieces
4 leeks, thinly sliced and sautéed in butter until softened
1/3 cup Horseradish Cream Sauce (recipe to follow)
1 cup hash browns, cooked until crispy
3/4 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
3/4 cup Irish Cheddar, shredded
1 Tablespoon fresh thyme, leaves only, chopped
1 Tablespoon fresh chives, chopped

For the Horseradish Cream Sauce:

1 cup sour cream
6 tablespoons prepared white horseradish (about 4 ounces)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives or green onion tops

Image: Lea & Jay

How to make it:

Whisk all of the Horseradish Cream Sauce ingredients in small bowl to blend. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours.
Combine the dry ingredients, oil, and 1 cup of Guinness, mixing and kneading everything together by hand, mixer or bread machine set on the dough cycle until you’ve made a soft, smooth dough. The dough should be soft and supple; adjust with additional Guinness or flour if needed. If you’re kneading in a stand mixer, it should take 4 to 5 minutes at second speed, and the dough should barely clean the sides of the bowl, perhaps sticking a bit at the bottom.
Place the dough in a dough rising bucket, or large bowl, lightly covered with plastic wrap, and let it rise at room temperature for 60 to 90 minutes, or until it begins to look puffy. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 200°C. If you are using a baking stone to bake the pizza on, place it into the oven at this time.
While the dough is rising, prepare all of your toppings; chop the leftover corned beef, sauté the leeks and set them aside to cool, cook the hash browns until crispy and set aside to cool, grate the cheese, chop the thyme and chives, mix up the Horseradish Cream Sauce.
Once the dough has risen, divide it into two equal portions and place each on a lightly oiled 12″ pizza pan, or on parchment paper lightly spritzed with cooking spray.
Use your fingers to press the dough outward from the centre to make a very thin, flat circle about 12″ across.
Spread the toppings over the dough, keeping in mind not to overload the thin crust. Hold the chives aside to sprinkle over the pizzas once they are out of the oven
Bake for 12 – 15 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and cheese is hot and bubbly.
Top with chives and serve immediately.

See More: Irish Food, Irish Recipe, Pizza, Recipe